The parole commission says Peltier, 79, will be eligible for another parole hearing in 2026. He's serving life in prison for killing two FBI agents during a standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
American Indian activist Leonard Peltier speaks during an interview at the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan., on April 29, 1999. Peltier, who has spent most of his life in prison for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents in South Dakota, was denied parole this week.
His attorney, Kevin Sharp, a former federal judge, vowed to appeal. He had argued that Peltier was wrongly convicted and that the health of the 79-year-old was failing."This decision is a missed opportunity for the United States to finally recognize the misconduct of the FBI and send a message to Indian Country regarding the impacts of the federal government's actions and policies of the 1970s," he said in a statement.
"They were down, they were wounded, they were helpless and he shot them point blank," said Mike Clark, president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI."It is a heinous crime."FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that"justice continues to prevail." And Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, described Peltier in a statement as an"unremorseful murderer.
Tilsen, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, credits AIM and others for most of the rights Native Americans have today, including religious freedom and the ability to operate casinos and tribal colleges and enter into contracts with the federal government to oversee schools and other services. Two other AIM members, Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, were acquitted of killing Coler and Williams.
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